Brain Slug Baby Hat pattern...

is here.

I was bored. Wanted to mess around with writing up this pattern. Finally got up and off my arse and did so. (I think the DDR helped with that part.) Here you go!

Brain Slug Baby Hat!

Barely breathing...

but I made it, people. The holidays came and went (as did my in-laws), and I'm hoping that Santa was as good to you as he was to us. It appears that my brain went ka-blam-mo due to too much 'nog, and I have no pictures of Christmas knitting to show you. It seems that I forgot to take pictures of ANY of the things that I crafted. Final tally was: 1 scarf, 2 pairs of fingerless mitts, 1 Thermis, 1 hat, and 1 pair of penis mittens.

I was fortunate enough to receive lots of books. (Some crafting ones, some fiction.) Lots of yarn. Some lovely jewelery. A handbag. Lots of peace, love and joy. And. The. Awesomest. Thing. Ever.

DDR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah, yeah. Go ahead and sling some ethnic stereotypes my way now. All I know is that I am one freakin' happy camper. And if things go the way I intend, I am going to learn how to play the game without feeling like I have penguin feet. (The dance mat takes a little getting used to.) I love Russell Peter's take on Asians and DDR. Here, watch. (NSFW due to language...)

That's a little better...

This is the second mitten, and I learned quite a lot from it's completion.


One: When improvising a pattern, fer Pete's sake...look at other similar patterns so that you don't end up with Penishands.


Second: If improvising patterns, do not do so during a marathon session of Red Dwarf. The ensuing giggles will definitely distract you from the task at hand.


Third: Getting heavily into the Holiday Spirit(s) may also impair your ability to improvise said pattern. Regarding that last point...don't judge me too harshly, as my in-laws are coming for Christmas again this year. *sigh* The first mitten was ripped back and knit to match the second, and they've both been sent to my Mum, hopefully in time for the holidays. Canada Post is being a serious booger this season.

My swap package for the Shakespeare Swap has arrived! It was lovely, and there was clearly a lot of care put into this baby:




See that bag? Handmade, people. And it is the PERFECT size for my current FO, Thermis. And the scarf/shawl? Stunning. I am utterly charmed by this package and my faith in the Interwebs has been renewed. The holidays really are the most wonderful time of the year.

Sometimes, a mitten is just a mitten.

Heeeeey, that's one good lookin' FO.


Nice view from the back too...


Uhm.

For those of you who don't have the mind of a 12 year old boy...would I be a total dickhead to give these mittens in the condition that they're in right now? I believe that this is what the Brits call a cock-up. Maybe make the flip top schlonger? Or should I just rip it back and start from the middle again? After all, there are hours of entertainment to be had making random penis jokes when staring at these mittens, and that's gotta be worth something. Yikes. Any suggestions?

Whaaaa?

*Where* did November go?
Oh yeah, that's right.

Housewide H1N1 will do that to you. We were hit hard here, no need for the vaccination - we were immunized au naturelle. And of course, we managed to get sick the week before we left on holiday. Wonderful. But it was a great trip, as we were all healthy by the time we got on the plane. There were many bonfires in backyards, shopping, boardgames, shopping, and one unexpected FO.

While in TO, I was asked to knit a baby hat. So I made a little trip to the LYS from my parents place (Creative Yarns, great store!) and picked up a ball of Rowan Cashmerino for an Aviatrix hat.


It turned out nicely, and the only bad thing about it was that I was a dumbass and packed it in my luggage. So the hat is here with me and waiting to be matched with another hat for the recipient's older's sister before it's mailed off. I'm thinking Fish Hat.

I'm behind on Christmas knitting...as a pair of glittens were requested by my Mum. And seeing as how she gave birth to me and all that...she kinda takes priority here. I've now frogged three different mittens already in the search for the right one - Ysolda's Snapdragon mittens were too bulky and heavy. The Roman Holiday ones were too small. And the modified Cabobble mittens were too big. I am just having no luck with this project. Here's hoping that the Emerald Mitts will work.

And I appear to have lost a whole bunch of photos, including the ones I took of the swap packages that I sent out. So, I'm going to have to borrow some pics from the lovely recipients.


From the Odd Ducks group on Rav - for the Shakespeare Swap! A pair of socks knit in the Watchful Chaos pattern, a spindle bag sewn from silk brocade and lined with a crazy wild cotton print, various fibers including milk fiber, and an orifice hook made by me from sea glass I picked up on a walk at Lawrencetown.


Again, from the Odd Ducks group - for the Winter Sanity Swap. The idea was to prep a kit for your recipient to save them from the insanity of the holiday season. A pattern, and all the necessary accouterments needed to complete the project. As you can see, I had a fun time throwing in things into this package to help my spoilee get through the season.

Here's hoping that the packages I receive for these two swaps will also help me get though the season.

We decorated the tree and the house yesterday in anticipation of a winter storm blowing though the province. While it looks like it was decorated like a 6 year old high as a kite on a sugar rush was in charge...I love our tree this year. 'Cause if you're going to go geek, you'd better own it.




May the Force Be With You.

Ska in the most unexpected places...

I know that babies shouldn't watch too much TV. But Miss E LOVES Yo Gabba Gabba...and as discussed last night with Calins, here's the ska segment that we were talking about. Here's to AWESOME kids tv, even if it is populated by freaky green monsters and orange talking dildos.

This is going to be quick...

'cause I have a weather migraine coming on. Yuck. Even though it's bright and sunny (and freakin' COLD!), I'm unfortunately not enjoying it right now.

It's November, right? Which means that if we check down an entry or two, I had a whole list of stuff I wanted to get done. Aaaaaaaaaand? Did I get it done?

...

You bet your sweet ass I did. Observe.

Craft Hope blankie #1.


Craft Hope blankie #2.


I still can't quilt for shite...but at least I know now that I can't. And possibly, just might take a class on machine quilting in the near future.

Still haven't blocked the scarf. But am ALL DONE with my swap packages. (Yes, there are several.) I'll post pics once the packages are out in the big wide world. I loathe going to the post office with munchkins in tow, so I'll probably mail out things on the weekend.

And now? What's on the list for this month? A little travelling, (Yay for visiting hometowns!), a lot of reading (reviews to come soon), and holiday crafting. I can't believe I got suckered into it, but there you go. So here's the preliminary list:

Mittens for both of Mr. Munchkin's teachers. Possibly hats too. Seriously, if I had a pot of gold, at least half of it would be going to them - they're amazing and have really helped my little man by leaps and bounds. To say that I'm grateful has to be the understatement of the century.
Socks for me. (I did mention that it's friggin' cold all of a sudden, right?)
Socks for others.
Mittens for little hands.
A quilt for Mr. BHT's cousin who is expecting a girl in the depths of winter. Well, Texas winter. Does that even count as winter?

Yeah. The needles will be flying. Just like the snowflakes!

...

Ugh.